Stealing from God
You may or may not be surprised if I tell you that the biggest thieves were priests and scribes in the old testament, guilty of taking kickbacks from "temple coin" and "sacrificial animals" but that was only until Jesus kicked their agents out of the temple saying you have turned my fathers house from a house of prayer into a den of thieves.
Jesus opened the eyes of the people and seriously reduced the profits of the priesthood. Did you think that they wanted him dead just for preaching about the kingdom of heaven? He eroded their authority and more importantly their income. It is always about money and power and not much has changed in over 2,000 years.
Today certain "religious" pastors hoodwink the populace in a similar manner. As the bible says there is nothing new under the sun. How many of these people belong on a paid program infomercial selling motivational feel good snake oil rather than true bible based Christianity is beyond me.
Perhaps the IRS needs to review who is paying for what portion of air time? How can you sell a TV station to a secular business and not return the original contributions to the "membership" who donated the tax deducted funds to buy it and the associated satellites in the first place? How about the tax deductions granted to all those contributions? Should the government ask the benefactors of the sale to pay those back also?
Fact number one the term love gift is not in the bible. Fact number two God does not promise you any multiple of increase from giving to a fake preacher and his cronies. Your odds are better in Vegas on a slot machine. I call them fake because the bible is quite specific that others will come in Jesus name to deceive the flock who call themselves believers in Christ.
So just who is robbing God? False preachers who do not explain the tithe properly and use it to feather their own nest. They never explain it exactly as it is given in the bible nor what the bible says it should be used for. It is not meant to buy more air time or build more tax free country clubs and fitness centers. It is meant to house the homeless and feed the hungry and take care of orphans and old priests without a pension. Not buy jets, multi-million dollar homes and luxury cars. Jesus never wore a Rolex or an Armani suit.
How many teach you that the tithe is not expected of you by God? Now is that not a revelation in itself? He welcomes it if you give it because through tithing you are acknowledging your belief in God.
Please remember that God gave you freedom of choice and it starts right there in your pocket book. You have freedom of choice given to you by God to either tithe or to not tithe, the choice is yours and not some pastor trying to make you feel guilty or promise you riches that he cannot deliver to you.
Greed is a sin whether it be a pastor or the member of his or her church. Vanity is also a sin. Why are so many money making ministry machines today named after the pastor and not after the God he or she claims to serve? Is it not to glorify the pastor and to advertise his name? Are you tithing out of a love for God or because of the get rich mentality that prevails so much today? LOOK IN THE MIRROR FOR AN ANSWER.
So what does the bible say about the tithe? First you must go to God in prayer and make the promise yourself to Him. Not to a church, not to a ministry and not to any one individual pastor but to Him. You must promise to give the tithe to God. If you do not then any offering you make is a freewill offering. Nothing wrong with that. It is simply not a tithe. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
So lets say you wish to honor God with the first fruits of your labor. You can do this in one of two ways. One by tithing through your local church or two by giving it as a freewill offering. If you tithe to your local church then you expect it to handle your tithe exactly as it says in the bible. If you give via a freewill offering then you may decide to give to various other charities over and above your local church however the church may get a smaller share of the total given. Statistics say that slightly over 10% of a congregation actually tithe.
You are challenged by the bible to be a good steward and this means examining your churches giving habits within the local community. Does it give to the local food bank? Does it give to the local homeless via habitat for humanity or some other worthy organization. Does it give to the local orphanage? Yes there are still orphanages in almost every community throughout the United States. Does it give to a retirement home for ministers or pastors who faithfully served God? Ask these questions and if not redirect the check to them yourself and glorify God and not some other persons name.
Always remember the bible is your guide, read it and ask yourself this one question. Does this man or woman live a lifestyle reflecting a disciple of Jesus or someone on the Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous TV show?
Jesus walked everywhere and did not preach outside of the Holy Land, yet the bible is to be found on every continent on earth. How is this possible? Most bibles are distributed by those unsung heroes called the Gideon Society so if you want to spread the word then add them to both your prayers and your donations.
Jesus opened the eyes of the people and seriously reduced the profits of the priesthood. Did you think that they wanted him dead just for preaching about the kingdom of heaven? He eroded their authority and more importantly their income. It is always about money and power and not much has changed in over 2,000 years.
Today certain "religious" pastors hoodwink the populace in a similar manner. As the bible says there is nothing new under the sun. How many of these people belong on a paid program infomercial selling motivational feel good snake oil rather than true bible based Christianity is beyond me.
Perhaps the IRS needs to review who is paying for what portion of air time? How can you sell a TV station to a secular business and not return the original contributions to the "membership" who donated the tax deducted funds to buy it and the associated satellites in the first place? How about the tax deductions granted to all those contributions? Should the government ask the benefactors of the sale to pay those back also?
Fact number one the term love gift is not in the bible. Fact number two God does not promise you any multiple of increase from giving to a fake preacher and his cronies. Your odds are better in Vegas on a slot machine. I call them fake because the bible is quite specific that others will come in Jesus name to deceive the flock who call themselves believers in Christ.
So just who is robbing God? False preachers who do not explain the tithe properly and use it to feather their own nest. They never explain it exactly as it is given in the bible nor what the bible says it should be used for. It is not meant to buy more air time or build more tax free country clubs and fitness centers. It is meant to house the homeless and feed the hungry and take care of orphans and old priests without a pension. Not buy jets, multi-million dollar homes and luxury cars. Jesus never wore a Rolex or an Armani suit.
How many teach you that the tithe is not expected of you by God? Now is that not a revelation in itself? He welcomes it if you give it because through tithing you are acknowledging your belief in God.
Please remember that God gave you freedom of choice and it starts right there in your pocket book. You have freedom of choice given to you by God to either tithe or to not tithe, the choice is yours and not some pastor trying to make you feel guilty or promise you riches that he cannot deliver to you.
Greed is a sin whether it be a pastor or the member of his or her church. Vanity is also a sin. Why are so many money making ministry machines today named after the pastor and not after the God he or she claims to serve? Is it not to glorify the pastor and to advertise his name? Are you tithing out of a love for God or because of the get rich mentality that prevails so much today? LOOK IN THE MIRROR FOR AN ANSWER.
So what does the bible say about the tithe? First you must go to God in prayer and make the promise yourself to Him. Not to a church, not to a ministry and not to any one individual pastor but to Him. You must promise to give the tithe to God. If you do not then any offering you make is a freewill offering. Nothing wrong with that. It is simply not a tithe. It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
So lets say you wish to honor God with the first fruits of your labor. You can do this in one of two ways. One by tithing through your local church or two by giving it as a freewill offering. If you tithe to your local church then you expect it to handle your tithe exactly as it says in the bible. If you give via a freewill offering then you may decide to give to various other charities over and above your local church however the church may get a smaller share of the total given. Statistics say that slightly over 10% of a congregation actually tithe.
You are challenged by the bible to be a good steward and this means examining your churches giving habits within the local community. Does it give to the local food bank? Does it give to the local homeless via habitat for humanity or some other worthy organization. Does it give to the local orphanage? Yes there are still orphanages in almost every community throughout the United States. Does it give to a retirement home for ministers or pastors who faithfully served God? Ask these questions and if not redirect the check to them yourself and glorify God and not some other persons name.
Always remember the bible is your guide, read it and ask yourself this one question. Does this man or woman live a lifestyle reflecting a disciple of Jesus or someone on the Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous TV show?
Jesus walked everywhere and did not preach outside of the Holy Land, yet the bible is to be found on every continent on earth. How is this possible? Most bibles are distributed by those unsung heroes called the Gideon Society so if you want to spread the word then add them to both your prayers and your donations.
posted by Wisdom at 9:52 PM
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